Board member Phil Taylor, who has evaluated the school in his role as chair of the Twin Valley Facilities Committee, offered the board a prioritized list of things that need to be addressed at the school. The list includes a number of “immediate repairs,” as well as repairs and upgrades that Taylor says can be scheduled over time. Repairs that need immediate attention include minor issues such as filling knotholes in the siding to prevent wasps from nesting to ongoing issues such as leaks in the gymnasium roof and around the building’s foundation. Water and drainage problems have been an ongoing issue at the school.
This week the board was set to consider a proposal from local civil engineer Merrill Mundell to improve drainage around the foundation of the building. But, according to school board chair Doug Swanson, the board postponed their decision after discussing the drainage problem with DVES staff. They contend that the problem causing water to enter the building isn’t a lack of drainage; they say water is directed into the building when it becomes trapped between the building and snow that has fallen off the roof. Remove the snow, they say, and the water will drain. “The town crew gets up there as soon as they can to clear the snow,” says Swanson, “but one of the things we’re wondering is if we should have a machine right on site.”
Taylor says part of the solution may be to install a 2” x 10” pressure-treated “rail” along the bottom of the school. “That way a plow can go right up against the building without damaging it,” Taylor said.
Mundell suggested the installation of curtain drains in a gravel trench around the school, but Taylor said board members were concerned that the fix, even if it worked, would be temporary. “We realized that the drainage issue probably wouldn’t be fixed by putting in gravel and drainage pipe,” he said. “It would just freeze up and cost a lot of money.”
Taylor said he couldn’t identify the source of a reported leak in the gymnasium roof. The roof membrane is in excellent shape, he said, and there are no visible signs of water penetration. He suggested that the problem may actually be one of condensation inside the gym.
Other immediate repairs include the replacement of flashing, painting, and the reconfiguration of the roof over the main entry. Taylor says ice could fall on students entering the building under the current design.
At least one of the school’s 40-year-old heating units is on the “immediate repair” list, but board members say they plan to replace all of the heating units over the next several years.
Each room in the school is heated by its own heating unit that also provides fresh air. But Swanson said the board recently discovered that the heating units, designed and installed well before the 1973 oil embargo, are extraordinarily inefficient.
Swanson said the heaters draw in fresh air from outside the building and heat it to room temperature. If the outside air temperature is 10 degrees, the heating unit raises the temperature by almost 60 degrees. To add to the inefficiency, the warmed air is vented out through the ceiling. Swanson said just adding heat exchangers to the system would likely make it 60% more efficient. “We were baffled as to why we were spending almost as much to heat this building as we do the high school,” Swanson said.
Swanson said any plan to replace the heaters would have to go before the public at Town Meeting, but that even at a replacement cost of $8,000 each, the payoff for more efficient units should be about three years. Other efficiency upgrades and repairs include the replacement of entry doors, energy efficient lighting, and, eventually, the school’s oil-fired boilers.
Swanson said the school is also having some issues with the new water system, including a minor leak. “The operation of the system just isn’t up to peak performance,” he said. “With the exception of the leak, it’s mostly just a few adjustments.” Swanson said the adjustments and repairs are covered under the contractor’s warranty.
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